Can There Ever Be Too Many Tomatoes? Or Socks?

Spring is officially here, which means it's time to plant more seeds! Today is the all-important day of tomato seed planting, and we have 9 varieties going in this year. Yes, perhaps that is going a bit overboard, but there are so many beautiful and delicious tomatoes to choose from out there that it's hard not to. Plus, we're looking forward to a bumper crop so that we can make plenty of sauce to preserve for next winter. We're also planting some onion seeds today, although we really should have done so about 3 weeks ago. Typically onions can be planted in the garden several weeks before the last frost date, but due to some factors outside of our control, there's a pretty good chance we won't be getting our spring plantings done before the middle of May anyway, so our late seed sowing shouldn't be a problem. Along with the veggie seeds, we'll also be starting some herbs and flowers - sweet Genovese basil, purple Dark Opal basil, sage, rosemary, stevia, lavender, chamomile, and bee's friend.

Also of note, our hop rhizomes have arrived!


In other homesteading news, we have completed our first scarves! They're very simple, just done in knit stitch. Mine is made from a nice thick wool yarn with a size 7 needle, so it's very warm and almost wind-proof. And green! I was so excited about how well it turned out, that I went straight out and bought more yarn to make a throw blanket. The Gardener's is in manly shades of olive drab, but is softer and squishier. He now dreams of knitting his own socks! Our dear friend Pragmatiste has given us an awesome set of interchangeable circular needles to try out. They will be perfect for making some thick, wooly socks for the next time the Gardener goes camping up in the mountains!

Well Worth Watching

The sprouts are sprouting and we're trying to keep ourselves distracted. I managed to mulch some of the beds with hay and bought a few supplies for creating a new raised bed last weekend. And though there are plenty of books on the nightstand that need finishing, we decided to watch TV instead.

I found a recent BBC series called Victorian Farm, which gave a much needed escape to someplace green and growing. The show focuses on three historians who try their hands at Victorian farming with authentic equipment and practices. The six part series covers the span of a year on the farm. The hosts grow and harvest an acre of wheat, lamb ewes over winter and raise a litter of piglets. Pretty much a dream year.

If you have access to a copy of the show I really recommend it.